Watchin John Besh this weekend cook one on his show. Looked good and very simple. I like simple dishes. Was made the way I expected. Nothing more. Unitl he got fancy with his crabs. He took crab halfs and tosed them in a shallow pan with olive oil. I never tried this. Does this do anything extra that is worth doing? He then tossed in shrimp and kept stiring for a while. Then he put the crabs and shrimp in the coubion. Looked good, I just never heard of putitng crab halfs in a a hot pan of oil.

I can see where a stock made with crabs might give it a little kick in overall flavor, but not too much else. There are a few things that are family secrets for a courtboullion that will make taste buds dance.

I've had his version at Luke as well and it is indeed delicious. However, while the base recipe is fairly traditional, he definitely strays a bit by including shrimp, crab, and oysters at the tail end of the recipe. It's good, just dressed up a bit.

When I make courtbouillon, I'm usually just cleaning all my fish out the freezer, not too concerned with dressing it up.